Clinicians, researchers and health representatives converge at CVU for latest updates

The Melbourne Vaccine Education Centre (MVEC) held its Clinical Vaccinology Update (CVU) on Friday, 26 April and pulled in record attendance of 225 participants comprising general practitioners, nurse immunisers, hospital staff, pharmaceutical representatives and Aboriginal health service providers, to share and discuss immunisation updates, new initiatives and vaccine research.

Chaired by Associate Professor Nigel Crawford, MVEC at MCRI, the one-day meeting consisted of presentations by well-known speakers in the field, including Professor David Durrheim, Director of Health Protection at Hunter New England Health in NSW on immunisation initiatives in Hunter New England Health and the team from the National Centre for Immunisation Research & Surveillance (NCIRS), in NSW including Ms Katrina Clark, National Indigenous Immunisation Coordinator, providing an update on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and Ms Cyra Patel, Senior Research Officer Policy Support, with an update on Meningococcal disease and vaccines.

Additionally, an update on travel vaccines was covered by Dr Shidan Tosif of the Royal Children's Hospital, an update on immunisation nurse practitioners in Australia from Ms Sonja Elia of the RCH, and an immunisation policy update from Mr Stephen Pellissier of the Victorian Department of Health.

Speaking about his recently released book 'Defeating the Ministers of Death', that sold out at the CVU, was special guest Professor David Isaacs, Clinical Professor, Paediatric Infectious Diseases at the Children's Hospital at Westmead and The University of Sydney.

The session concluded with an hour of Q&A addressing queries from the enthusiastic audience on popular topics such as Zostavax and the flu vaccination.

Presentations will be available for viewing on the MVEC website.